Fetty Wap Talks Musical Influences In A Power 105.1 Interview

No New York rappers for Fetty: he grew up on a straight diet of southern rap.

Fetty Wap provided more clues about his musical background in an interview with Power 105.1’s Angie Martinez yesterday. The rapper is from New Jersey, but his wailing delivery doesn’t have much in common with other Northeastern MCs. That’s because he spent his summers in the South with his relatives. “You’re not a hip-hop fan?” Martinez asked. “Nah,” Fetty replied. “Some people criticize me for that…most of my family is from the south. My cousins and them all listen to Gucci Mane, Young Jeezy, trap music, Lil Boosie, Slim Thug, they listen to people like that—Project Pat, Three Six Mafia, Juicy J. I didn’t listen to no up-north rappers… My cousins up here, on the other hand, they listen to Jay Z… Nas, but if you ask me to recite ‘em, I can’t recite ‘em.”

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Fetty’s hardly the first youngster with an exciting sound who hasn’t spent much time listening to a revered subset of older rappers. Last year, Young Thug said he would never buy a Jay Z album due to the rapper’s age. Before that, YG wasn’t sure who Tribe Called Quest were in an interview with Tribe’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad on NPR’s Mic Check. But these artists' lack of interest their genre's history—at least the New York corner of it—hasn't prevented them from impacting its future.